Gosh, He Was Strong
by laneypenns
Summary: Frisk hates sleeping. Dreams are too scary to go through over and over again. One-shot about Papyrus and Frisk being good pals. Implied night terrors Sans.


**I wanted to take a little break from my Underfell fic to write this because I've had a problem sleeping lately and nothing helps problems more than projecting them onto fictional characters.**

* * *

Toriel called Frisk from the kitchen to tell them to start getting ready for bed. They grumbled, turning off the TV and going to their room to get their pajamas. Toriel came upstairs while they climbed into bed and tucked them in. She read them a bedtime story, kissed them on the forehead, and turned off the light as she left, leaving the room to be illuminated only by the snail-shaped nightlight beside their bed. Frisk curled up under the covers and stared at it.

Frisk hated sleeping. It had been three months since everyone crossed the barrier, but every time Frisk slept, it was some other weird dream that made them wake up in the middle of the night feeling paranoid and sweaty. What they usually did after waking up was sneak to the computer and search up dream meanings to soothe themselves from the fear. Sometimes the symbols in their dreams made sense, like a room with checkerboard patterned walls that showed up frequently apparently meant they were feeling trapped and unstable. Other symbols didn't make sense though, like a knife was supposed to mean anger or something, but Frisk never really got angry all that much.

There were other things that stood out to them too. Other than dreaming of _falling_ or their teeth crumbling, they'd remember things they did in the past or things they _couldn't_ have done in the past or just random happenstances. Things like breathing underwater or _being abandoned_ or laying in a field of clovers or _laying in a patch of flowers_ or bleeding or their friends bleeding or _Sans bleeding_ or _Sans is bleeding_ -

Frisk didn't realize they had been drifting off until loud voices in their head started rambling until they jolted back awake. They always had these sorts of things where they heard things that weren't there while falling asleep, and they always tried to make sense of what they heard. It was usually something random about staying determined or being the future of the world, which Frisk hated because it just made them feel more like they were dying when they went to sleep.

But this time there wasn't any feeling that they were going to die as they slept. Instead, there was a deep sense of dread as they recited in their head what they had heard.

 _"You're, uh, very determined, aren't you?"_

* * *

Frisk was really excited to have their slumber party with Sans and Papyrus. See, "slumber" party didn't actually mean there'd be any sleeping. It would be them hanging out late at night talking about crushes and stuff. Something like that, it might be a little different since Sans and Papyrus were both adults, but Frisk just wanted to have a slumber party with _someone_. It always seemed fun, and now they actually had friends to party with.

Frisk heard Toriel letting Papyrus and Sans in as they were pulling up their pajama pants after their nightly bath. They quickly ran down the stairs and jumped at Papyrus while he was still in the doorway. Toriel giggled and Papyrus picked them up, propping them up easily on his arm. Gosh, he was strong.

Frisk looked down at Sans, who was carrying a duffel bag probably full of random slumber party stuff Papyrus could find. They had shown him an online article on how to throw the most fun sleepover ever, and he had been insistent on making it a reality.

"Frisk! Are you ready for our most amazing slumber party?" Frisk nodded excitedly, and Papyrus put them down so they could drag him into their room, where they had put all the pillows they could find on the ground (even the couch cushions) so they all had a comfy place to sit. Sans followed more slowly behind Papyrus, and Toriel was about to go sit on the couch before Frisk called her in too. She seemed surprised that she was apparently invited too, but Frisk wouldn't take no for an answer.

* * *

The party had been going great so far. They had started off playing Truth or Dare, and every time it was Papyrus's turn he called Sans and Sans always called dare. Frisk called Toriel once and she called dare, to which Frisk dared her to tell who her crush was. She and Sans both blushed a little as Sans said, "That's, uh, not really a dare, kiddo." Frisk dared her to eat a snail. It wasn't a very well thought-out dare.

After a couple rounds of Truth or Dare, a ding sounded from the kitchen and Toriel ran down to take some lima beans off the stove. They all sat at the table and ate dinner.

After dinner, Toriel looked at the clock in surprise. "Oh, dear, it's already nine! Frisk, you should be getting ready for bed."

Frisk shook their head. Slumber parties weren't about sleeping! Toriel tutted.

"I know you want to party more, but you must go to sleep on time or you won't be able to anymore." This wouldn't be worth fighting, would it? Hanging their head in quick defeat, Frisk started walking slowly to their room, throwing a pout at Toriel which she chuckled at. Papyrus pulled a large pink blanket out of his duffel bag and followed Frisk to their room again, laying on the ground pillows as Frisk climbed into their bed.

Sans said he was going to sleep on the couch in the living room instead, but he sat down between the two of them and started reading a bedtime story. Frisk hadn't even realized they were so tired, but they fell asleep before the story ended.

* * *

It was cold. Frisk shambled through the snow. The sky was black, but not shrouded by clouds. The edges of Frisk's eyesight were dark and they numbly wondered why their clothes felt so heavy. Soon, Frisk approached a long corridor. They saw their long shadow on the ground. They noted the tiled floor. _Checkerboard pattern, maybe?_ They didn't feel like they were dreaming, but they didn't always. Frisk was suddenly aware, as he showed up, of the man at the end of the hallway. He was a shadowy figure, but somehow Frisk knew immediately that it was Sans.

 _"Let's just get to the point."_

Frisk thought it was all too familiar now, being pulled into a fight with someone. They naturally accepted it, because their mind was too numb in dreaming to think of why Sans would be fighting them.

 _"It's a beautiful day outside."_ Frisk nodded.

 _"Birds are singing, flowers are blooming…"_ As is typical of good days.

 _"On days like these, kids like you…"_ He didn't say the last words, but Frisk knew they were there.

 ** _"Should be burning in Hell."_** The attacks were too easy to dodge.

 _"Here we go."_ Everything he said and did was familiar.

 _"Heh heh heh… That's your fault, isn't it?"_ Frisk lashed at him.

 _"You can't understand how this feels."_ It feels infuriating.

 _"Knowing that one day…"_ Frisk started, remembering other dreams they'd had before.

 _"It's all going to be reset."_ Frisk realized they were dreaming. This was a recurring nightmare. They strained to think of what they had read online to wake them up. The first thing that came to mind was calling for help from inside the dream.

They dropped to their knees and screamed. They could tell that no sound came out of their mouth in real life. They screamed louder. Their throat felt bruised, and they assumed this meant they were starting to make noise. A blaster struck them from behind, and they didn't realize they were still screaming as they woke up.

Their throat went sore quickly after they woke up, because now they were actually yelling. They started sobbing, curling up into a ball as if it would keep their soul in one piece. They remembered all their dreams at once, each one where they fought another of their friends and didn't spare them. They didn't even realize Papyrus was quietly calling to them until he took their face in his hands. Frisk looked at him in the darkened room with wide, tearful eyes and started reaching towards his face. "P-Pap…"

Frisk patted their hand on his face, which he closed one eye at, before shakily whispering, "Y-yeah. I'm here, Frisk." He brushed their hair out of their face and wiped a tear away with an ungloved, bony hand. They kept crying as he sat down beside them and let them bury their face in his shirt. They tried in vain to tell him about their nightmare, but no sounds came out except for high pitched squeaking and occasionally Sans's name.

Papyrus didn't seem to mind though. After the initial shock of hearing Frisk scream, he was acting surprisingly calm. He didn't even ask why they had screamed or if they had had a nightmare. He just petted their hair and shushed them, telling them that everything would be okay. Soon, Frisk's grip on his shirt loosened and their sobs slowed down so that they could actually talk.

"I-I was in a hallway. And I noticed Sans at the end of it. He told me to fight him, so I did… And then I realized I was dreaming. So I screamed, t-to wake up." Frisk didn't want to include the really bad parts of their dream, lest Papyrus think less of them for even letting their subconscious get out of hand like that. They thought Papyrus might have noticed this, but he didn't say anything, only smiled and brushed his fingers through their hair.

"Dreams aren't a reflection of you, Frisk," Papyrus whispered, as if he had read their mind, "What matters is what you do when you're awake." Frisk nodded, burying their face in Papyrus's shirt again.

Papyrus hesitated before going on. "When I heard you scream, I thought you were Sans at first." Frisk looked up at Papyrus, confused. "Yes, he has the same problem sometimes! He says it's never bad dreams though. Only ones where he wants to wake up!" Papyrus saved, not convincing Frisk. He knew too well how to calm Frisk down for Sans to only wake up screaming and then just go about with his life normally. They were too tired to ask him what kind of nightmares Sans had though. Their eyes were starting to insist on closing and they were being comforted by Papyrus brushing their hair too much for them to protest against sleeping again.

Frisk hated sleeping. It had been three months since everyone crossed the barrier. Every night since, Frisk had had some weird dream that made them wake up feeling paranoid and sweaty. But sitting in Papyrus's lap with him petting their hair soothed Frisk so much that they couldn't help sleeping.

And, when they woke up the next day, Frisk realized they hadn't dreamed a thing.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! This was very comforting to write, and now I guess I know why people write about their faves comforting them so often…**

 **I might write a little second chapter to this at one point from Papyrus's POV, but for now it's just a one-shot.**

 **Anyways, if you want, leave a review! I always love to see feedback on my writing.**


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